These move back and forward with the passing waves and the relative motion is used to drive hydraulic pumps that suck in and pressurise seawater.
This pressurised water is then sent onshore where it can drive a turbine to create electricity and/or be used in a reverse osmosis desalination plant.
[3] As the device sites just below the sea surface, it has a low visual profile, and thus could be a good fit for tourist destinations.
[2] There were also plans to test a device at Isola Piana, on the south-west coast of Sardinia as part of the Wave to Energy and Water (W2EW) project.
[8] In 2024, WavePiston is testing their first full-scale device, at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias, PLOCAN).
It is expected that co-locating the wind and wave energy with shared infrastructure will reduce both costs and intermittency of the electricity generated.
[12] It is expected that a scaled-up future commercial system with 70 strings, each with 32 collectors, would have a rated power of 15 MW.